


50 "I think you're beautiful"

by allousive



Series: One Hundred Ways To Say 'I Love You' [16]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, teddy in make up, we love lily!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23218090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allousive/pseuds/allousive
Summary: James thought of Teddy about 100 times a day.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Teddy Lupin/James Sirius Potter
Series: One Hundred Ways To Say 'I Love You' [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1406428
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	50 "I think you're beautiful"

**Author's Note:**

> i've been mia for the last couple months bc my life got super busy but well the world is a bit of shitshow right now and im on lockdown by myself for a while so might just pop back into writing. this is just super fluffy because, well, i think we probably need that right now? so hope you're healthy and safe, enjoy, and stay inside!!

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**50 “I think you’re beautiful”**

James thought of Teddy about 100 times a day. He thought about him at work, in the shower, in bed, on his broom, at Sunday lunch with his grandparents, on nights out with his friends, you name a place, James has probably thought about Teddy there. At age 17 he’d thought maybe he fancied Teddy a little, and at age 20 he knew for a fact that he more than fancied Teddy.

Sometimes he thought Teddy felt the same, sometimes he thought he noticed little glances or intonations in his tone when they spoke, but Teddy was 26 and as well as James knew him, he still found him impossible to read. It was frustrating, bordering on infuriating.

His day at work had been tiring and stressful and he mostly wanted to go home, take a shower and go to bed, but it was Wednesday night, which meant it was family night and as he still lived with his parents, he had no way to escape. Luckily, as it was summer Lily was home, and at 18, Albus hadn’t moved out either, meaning James wasn’t alone with his parents and sometimes Teddy when he was there.

Teddy was always invited, Harry made sure of it, and 90% of the time he was there, he was lounging in James’ favourite spot on the sofa or sitting on the counter in the kitchen chatting away to his parents. Normally he was making James' life hell, complimenting him, making jokes with him, causing James to feel as though they were in on their own little secrets that no one else knew. Not to mention, in the summer months, half the time he was topless and wearing only a pair of shorts, as if his all his intentions were to entirely ruin James and any plans he may have had.

James half expected to find Teddy sat up on the counter when he got home, but it was just his mum and Albus in the kitchen when he entered.

“Hi sweetheart.” Ginny said, looking up from where she was helping Albus fill out some forms, smiling at her eldest.

James greeted his mum before filling a glass with water and drinking the entire thing, then sticking his tongue out at his brother who was watching him. Something about Albus made him revert to being a child, it was all part of being a sibling. He took off his jacket, hung it over the back of a chair and untucked his shirt from his trousers, trying to make himself slightly more comfortable before he went and got changed. Then he made his way out into the hallway.

“Is that you Jay?” Harry called from the lounge, getting the attention of James.

“Yeah dad.” He replied, stopping at the bottom of the stairs to hear what his dad had to say.

“Hey kid, if you’re going upstairs, could you get your sister? It’s her turn to cook this week.” That was another part of Wednesday family nights, each week the three children alternated between who cooked, and some weeks when he was feeling particularly nice, Teddy cooked too.

James nodded, then realised his dad couldn’t see him and called out his affirmation as he made his way up the stairs. Scrubbing a hand over his face he made his way across the landing and to Lily’s room, stopping outside the door when he heard voices inside. Ever the older brother, James didn’t give his sister any courtesy by knocking, instead just barrelled in.

What he saw on the other side of the door was not what he’d been expecting. Lily was sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor, looking up at the doorway at her brother who’d just barged into the room. Seeing Lily wasn’t what surprised James though, it was seeing Teddy, also sat cross-legged on the floor, opposite Lily.

The girl had a makeup brush in her hand, the end of it pink from the highlight she’d just applied to Teddy’s cheekbones. James was speechless as he looked down at Teddy, which wasn’t that unusual as he was often speechless around him, but what made it even worse was the fact that Teddy was wearing makeup.

His eyelids were painted a gentle rose-gold, accentuating the light brown colour that he’d changed his eyes to, his lashes, which were naturally long anyway were curled up and enhanced with a mascara. A faint blush was on the apple’s of his cheeks, the shimmer of the highlight Lily had just applied making it stand out even more. James couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Hey Jamie!” Teddy greeted enthusiastically, smile widening at the sight of him.

“Yes James?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother who had come into the room and then not said anything.

“Erm.” James couldn’t stop staring at Teddy, who was looking right back at him.

“What do you want?” She prompted, internally rolling her eyes at her brother’s lack of tact.

James cleared his throat and sadly dragged his eyes away from Teddy, looking to his sister, “Dad made me come and get you, it’s your turn to cook tonight, so now I’m home you better get started.”

When he wasn’t looking at Teddy his mind felt clear and coherent, it was only when he looked his way again that his brain felt fuzzy.

“Great,” Lily sighed, scooting away from Teddy then standing up and looking down at him, “guess we can finish this after tea, or just another time, thanks Teddy.”

Lily packed up the stuff she’d been using to do Teddy’s makeup, putting it all away in a drawer of her desk before practically gliding out of the room, muttering something that sounded like ‘pair of idiots’ as she passed James. She hoped she was subtle about the way she closed her bedroom door after she left.

Even if she’d made it really obvious, neither boy would’ve noticed, both too busy staring intently at one another. James didn’t even know what it was, he’d seen plenty of people wear makeup before and had never thought anything of it, and he’d seen Teddy’s face enough times to not react in the way he was, but something about the combination of both made him still.

“What did I walk in on?” James said, breaking the tension as he tried to force out what he hoped sounded like a casual laugh.

Teddy remained seated on the ground, leaning back on his elbows casually as he looked up at James, “Lily wanted to practise her makeup skills, I had nothing else to do and it was either this or help Al fill out forms for something, besides, she’s not that bad, and it’s quite relaxing.”

“I can see why you’d pick this over helping Al, even mum looked bored.” James said without looking directly at Teddy, looking somewhere else made it easier for him to form a proper sentence and actually say what he intended to without it coming out like gibberish.

Teddy laughed, eyes glimmering as he did so, “That and I’ve never been able to say no to Lily.”

“It’s part of her charm.” James looked down at Teddy again, stomach in knots when he made eye contact with the other man who was already staring at James in a way that he couldn’t quite decipher.

It was looks like the one Teddy was giving him that gave James hope that maybe some feelings were reciprocated.

“Take a seat.” Teddy instructed, patting the wooden floor next to him as if the room was his own.

James obliged immediately, he was pretty sure he’d do anything Teddy asked him to at this point.

“This is probably the longest I’ve ever spent in Lily’s room.” James said casually, looking around the room with a small sense of wonder, every corner filled with items that were just so Lily.

Teddy agreed and the room went quiet for a moment, both of them looking around the room, glancing at each other when the other wasn’t looking.

“So,” Teddy started, getting James’ attention, “what do you think?” He waved a hand in front of his face, gesturing to the makeup Lily had put on him.

“She did a good job, she’s definitely got talent.” James answered, trying not to let on just how impressed he was with the way it looked.

“Do you think I’m pretty?” Teddy teased, batting his eyelashes dramatically and pouting his lips, tilting his head to the side to gaze at James in a way he thought was sultry.

James laughed, but answered him entirely honestly, “ _I think you’re beautiful._ ”

He wasn’t lying, Teddy was quite possibly the most beautiful person James had ever laid his eyes on, with or without the makeup.

Teddy smiled, looking bashful and as though he wanted to distract from the compliment as quickly as he could, “You’re not too bad yourself Jamie.”

The slightest of compliments from Teddy made James’ heart flutter, even if he knew it was said teasingly. He couldn’t stop himself from blushing though, the real pink on his cheeks matching the artificial pink of Teddy’s.

“You flatter me.” James laughed, responding to Teddy’s mocking with his own.

Teddy didn’t respond for a few minutes, the room going quiet before he shrugged and said, “Part of my job description, you know I think you’re the prettiest Potter.”

Just as his blush had begun to go down, Teddy said that and caused James to go red in the face again.

“Don’t say things like that Teddy.” James said quietly.

“Things like what?”

James didn’t even want to get his next words out, he wasn’t sure why he’d even responded in that way, he knew it would just open a can of worms that he’d rather keep closed, but he didn’t know how to stop himself once he’d gotten started, “Like that you think I’m pretty.”

“Why not? I do think you’re pretty.” Teddy was looking sincerely at James.

“You know why Teddy.” James felt like an idiot, staring at the wooden floor and not daring to look at the other man.

He could feel Teddy inching closer as he spoke, “Do I James?”

James didn’t respond. Reluctantly, he looked up and met the gaze of Teddy who was already watching him, his eyes searching. He didn’t say anything else, just held Teddy’s gaze attentively, watching every shift and slight movement in the other’s eyes and expression.

“What?” Teddy asked, after they’d been silently staring at one another for a while.

“What?” James responded, not understanding what Teddy was asking.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Teddy asked.

The way Teddy was looking at him gave James the nudge of courage that he needed, which due to him being such a Gryffindor, wasn’t much.

He took a deep breath before looking at Teddy and saying, “If I asked if I could kiss you, what would you say?”

Clearly Teddy hadn’t been expecting him to say that, because he looked momentarily shocked before he collected himself, “Lily isn’t the only Potter that I’ve never been able to say no to.”

Before James could even respond, Teddy was moving closer and pulling him in for a kiss, sealing their lips together with a pleased hum. James had always wanted their first kiss to be sweet and pleasant, but now he had his lips on Teddy, he didn’t hold back and kissed him as though his life depended on it, one hand winding its way into Teddy’s hair, while the other rested on his thigh so James could steady himself while still touching Teddy. They kissed for what felt like an eternity, both smiling and panting slightly as they pulled away.

“Next time, please don’t mention my sister before you kiss me.” James said, moving even closer to Teddy until he was practically sat on the man’s lap, letting the hand that had been in Teddy’s hair move down to rest on his chest.

“Next time?” Teddy said with a smirk, quirking an eyebrow.

“Shut up.” James said before tilting his head up to kiss Teddy again, suddenly so glad he’d walked into the room before Lily could put lipgloss on Teddy, he wasn’t a fan of the tacky feeling.

Teddy chuckled softly into the kiss, one hand cupping James’ jaw while the other made its way to the small of his back, pressing James just that bit closer to him.

The bedroom door burst open for the second time that evening, startling the two who pulled away immediately and stared at the doorway like deer in headlights.

Lily looked down at the two sat on her bedroom floor and smiled. ‘Finally.’ She thought to herself. James was looking up at her with fear in his eyes, as though she was about to back down the stairs and tell everyone what she’d just seen, which was far from what she was going to do, what James and Teddy got up to was not her business.

No one had said anything yet, so taking matters into her own hands, Lily stepped into her bedroom.

“As happy as I am for the both of you, if you could refrain from kissing in my bedroom, that would be spectacular.” She said, moving over to the desk to retrieve what she’d been looking for, before leaving the room to the sound of James and Teddy’s relieved laughter, followed by what she unfortunately now knew to be the sound of them kissing.

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End file.
